The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Huskies hold off Owls for victory
STORRS — We know Wednesday night marked the final home game in the UConn career of Terry Larrier, along with a pair of grad transfers and a pair of walk-ons.
Was it the final game at Gampel Pavilion for Jalen Adams, too? If it was, he certainly went out with a bang.
Adams poured in 25 points and doled out eight assists to lead UConn to a 72-66 win over Temple before a Senior Night crowd of 7,674.
“Can’t ask for a better performance,” UConn coach Kevin Ollie noted.
Adams, a junior guard, obviously has another year of eligibility left. He’s not projected to be selected in the NBA draft, but it’s possible that he — like Larrier, a redshirt junior with a year of eligibility remaining — could decide that playing professionally somewhere — anywhere — may be a better option than returning to school next year.
If that’s the case, Adams wasn’t letting on.
“I’m not focused on that all,” he said after the game. “Right now, I’m a junior, and I look forward to playing the rest of the season out and getting ready in the summer for next season.”
Asked if the thought crossed his mind that he could be playing his final home game as a Husky, Adams responded: “No, not at all. I just really wanted to get the win for our seniors and send them off the right way.”
He certainly accomplished that. While Adams knocked down a seasonhigh five 3-pointers, his two biggest plays of the night may have been assists. With UConn (14-16, 7-10 AAC) clinging to a 61-60 lead, he found freshman Tyler Polley for a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 25 seconds left to give the Huskies a little breathing room.
“That was his only shot, but it was a big shot,” Ollie said of Polley. “I was proud for the young fella.”
After Temple’s Josh Brown countered with a putback, Adams hit Christian Vital for a layup with 55 seconds left. Temple lost the ball out of bounds on its ensuing possession, and Larrier found Adams for a layup with 35.1 ticks left to put the Huskies up six.
“We needed that game,” said Ollie. “I thought we battled all night.”
Larrier followed Adams in the scoring column with 13 points and grabbed seven boards. Vital, a 6-foot-2 guard, struggled through a 2-for-12 shooting night but collected a career-high 12 rebounds.
“I think C.V. is determined to lead this team in rebounding,” said Ollie. Indeed, Vital is the team’s top boardsman with 5.4 per game.
UConn got some other nice efforts from less likely sources. Antwoine Anderson, a grad transfer playing in his final UConn
home game, scored 10 points. Sophomore Mamadou Diarra was big off the bench with six points and three blocks in 17 minutes, while freshman Josh Carlton grabbed six boards in 11 minutes.
“He changed a number of shots on the back line,” Ollie said of Diarra.
Added Diarra: “Any way that coach wants me to help the team, whether it’s energy on the bench or in the game, I’m just trying to do that. Whatever role he wants me to play, that’s what I’m gonna do.”
Obi Enechionyia led Temple (16-13, 8-9 AAC) with 15 points.
It was quite a difference form the teams’ last meeting on Jan. 28 in Philadelphia, when the Owls rolled to an 85-57 blowout victory. With Larrier not available due to a fractured sinus wall, Adams was held to just seven points on 2for-10 shooting.
On Wednesday, UConn trailed 34-32 at the break but jumped out the gates with a 10-0 run to start the
latter half and opened up as much as a 10-point lead. Temple missed eight of its first nine and 14 of its first 17 shots to start the half, yet the Huskies could never quite put the Owls away.
In fact, Temple regained the lead on a Shizz Alston 3-pointer with 4:51 left, though Adams quickly countered with an and-1 to put the Huskies back on top.
An Alston jumper with 2:40 left brought Temple to within 61-60, and UConn committed a shot clock violation. But Enechionyia was whistled for traveling, and Polley followed with his big trey.
Vital sealed the deal with a pair of free throws in the final seconds.
“We wanted to send the seniors our the right way,” said Adams. “And, it's good to start playing your best basketball towards the end of the season, getting ready to go into the conference (tournament). We know how crucial that is for our season. We’re just really focused on figuring it out and clicking at the right time.”